BY MICHAEL JOHNSEN
Cirrus Healthcare Products recently launched a new ear care product, EarHURTS, that could prove to be an incremental sale to the already-robust ear drop category—a category that generated $66.4 million across food, drug and mass (minus Wal-Mart) channels for the 52 weeks
BRAND
PERCENT SALES*
CHANGE
10.2%
8. 4
- 8. 4
12. 2
-0.1
1. 5
- 43.0
- 21. 5
8.0
17. 5
- 3. 4
CATEGORY TOTAL
MACKS PILLOW SOFT
HEAROS
MACKS SAFE SOUND
FLENTS QUIET PLEASE
EARPLANES
MACKS
LEIGHT SLEEPERS
FLENTS QUIET TIME
OTOTEK LOOP
SUPER 31
* in millions
Source: Information Resources Inc. for the 52 weeks ended May 18, 2008, for food, drug and mass, excluding Wal-Mart
$37.7
6. 5
4. 7
3. 4
3. 1
3.0
2. 6
1. 7
1. 5
1. 2
0.7
ended May 18, according to Information Resources Inc. data, growth of 23. 9 percent.
EarHURTS, an ear care product designed to be used in conjunction with ear drops, is a silicone ear insert formulated with several all-natural pain soothers, including anhydrous glycerin, almond and eucalyptus oils, mullein extract, echinacea oil and tea tree oil. “It helps to soothe any pain you might [experience] from ear infections, swim-mer’s ear or any problems related to the ear,” Allen Berger, vice president of marketing for Cirrus Healthcare, told Drug Store News. As many as 4-out-of- 5 children are subject to ear infections, Berger said, “and the only remedy now is ear drops, which, if you’re on the go with the child or sleeping at night, may not be the most convenient [product to administer].”
EarHURTs is safe to use with antibiotics, the company claimed, and even better, may afford parents a treatment option while they wait the 48 hours healthcare practitioners typically recommend before prescribing a child antibiotics for an earache.
Innovation is nothing new for Cirrus, which last year launched BioEars, a soft silicone earplug that contains an antimicrobial agent to help fight bacteria. Cirrus started out in the earplug category with EarPlanes—an earplug technologically designed to relieve air pressure when flying.
BY DOUG DESJARDINS
With the number of battery-powered instruments in U.S. households now in the billions, consumers need a way to keep those items powered on the road, and Energizer is making it easier with its new portable power packs. In the past 18 months, Energizer has rolled out portable chargers for the two most popular portable devices: cell phones and iPods.
In late 2007, Energizer debuted the Energi To Go Portable Power for iPod, a unit powered by two lithium AA batteries. In tests, the power pack provided 46 hours of music playback on the iPod Nano and 32 hours of video playback on an iPod, with a single charge. The charger also comes with a licensed Apple iPod tip that adjusts to fit a standard iPod and the iPod Nano.
In addition to the Portable Power for iPod, Energizer has an Energi To Go Instant Cell Phone Charger. The cell phone charger features a phone tip connector compatible with more than 100 phones from suppliers including Sprint, Samsung, Nokia and Motorola.
And the charger is in increased demand now that higher-drain smart phones are rapidly replacing regular cell phones, with the iPhone alone expected to sell 10 million units
this year.
A survey by Energizer Holdings conducted in 2006 showed the number of battery-driven, digital devices in U.S. households jumped 21 percent to 2. 3 billion and that sales of lithium batteries increased 336 percent. Those numbers are the rationale behind Energizer’s push to create batteries and chargers that can be used on the road.
2003
$967,000
2004
4. 4 million
2005
22. 5 million
2006
39. 4 million
2007
51. 6 million
Source: Apple quarterly reports
References:
Archives